Daveed Diggs
| Daveed Diggs | |
|---|---|
Diggs at the White House in 2016
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| Born |
Daveed Daniele Diggs January 24, 1982 Oakland, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Occupation | Actor, rapper, singer |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Website | Official website |
Daveed Daniele Diggs (born January 24, 1982) is an American actor and rapper. He is the vocalist of the hip hop group clipping., and originated the role of Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in the 2015 musical Hamilton, for which he won a Grammy Award and a Tony Award in 2016.
Diggs was born in Oakland, California. He has described his mother as Jewish and his father as African-American. His parents named him "Daveed," the Hebrew pronunciation of David. Diggs has said, "‘David’ means beloved in Hebrew... They spelled it with two E’s because my dad liked the look of it.” His parents' ethnic/racial identities have contributed to his own self-identification: "The cultures never seemed separate—I had a lot of mixed friends. When I was young, I identified with being Jewish, but I embraced my dad’s side too.”
Diggs is an alumnus of Berkeley High School and of Brown University, from which he graduated in 2004. He was originally recruited for his track skills and eventually earned a degree in theatre. Diggs broke the Brown Bears' school record in the 110 meter hurdles as a sophomore when he finished with a time of 14.21 seconds.
Diggs performed in a lot of experimental theatre early on, most notably when he was on the national tour for Marc Bamuthi Joseph's choreopoem, Word Becomes Flesh, about a nine-month pregnancy, through the eyes of a young, single father. Aside from his experimental work, he frequently performed in regional Shakespeare productions.
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